You Can Run but You Can't Hide
by StacyMcMissile
Summary: Siddeley and Cammie Wrights' thoughts and dreams have been haunted by images of him etched into their brains, and his raspy voice painted on their memories. As the nightmares get worse, one day Siddeley receives a phone call that makes him realize, panicked, that all this time he hasn't been able to hide... (Sequel to The Legend of Stalker Siddeley; Dumb names but bear with me)
1. Chapter 1

**Wow. I am actually the worst at descriptions.**

 **So this past Monday (the 10** **th** **) I was doing the dishes or something idk, basking in the glory of October, when I realized "oh SHIT THE 13** **TH** **IS THIS WEEK FFFFFF" of course, remembering the vow I made to myself last October that I'd have made more progress on this.**

 **SO HERE'S THE FIRST CHAPTER OF THE SEQUEL TO THE LEGEND OF STALKER SIDDELEY ENJOY?**

 **Holy craps it has been FOREVER since I posted something NEW to this site *inhales* BOI.**

 **Alright onto the specifics of the story:**

 **I know some people complain when I switch the POVs too much but in the first few chapters it's to show you how everyone's doing... Years later...**

 **I also kinda cringe every time they say "Stalker Siddeley" in a serious tone of voice. It's... Odd. Embarrassing I couldn't come up with a better name when I was 13. Blegh.**

 **Hey maybe I can incorporate the name thing into the story… and also change it in the process.**

 _ ****ALSO, I realized that I have quite a bit OCs that people may not know who they are/where they came from/etc/etc, SOOO I now have linked to my fanfiction profile character references for the OCs that show up in my stories! Right now I just have Cammie and Becca, but I'll be posting more as they show up this fic. (I know that sounds intimidating, but I promise it's not a lot.)****_

 **Okay, whatever. Hope you enjoy.**

* * *

Siddeley Wright's eyes snapped open when an image of Stalker Siddeley's laughing figure popped into his head.

He let out a groan, sighed, and ran his hands over his face. He murmured, "It's like you're still here... Even when my eyes are closed… Ugh."

"Siddeley?" Becca called. Siddeley sat up straight.

"Yeah?" He called back.

There was a moment of silence. "Never mind!" It came from upstairs.

Siddeley decided to see what she was going to ask, anyway. He got up and walked past his daughter, Brooke, doing math homework at the kitchen table.

He stopped for a moment to catch a glimpse of it, and scowled. Siddeley really hoped she wouldn't ask for any help; he didn't understand anything on that paper.

"Daddy—excuse me, Dad," she said awkwardly, holding out the "A" longer than necessary.

Siddeley rolled his eyes. About a month ago he had suggested to his daughter she no longer call him "Daddy," so just to bother him, she decided to say it in the most annoying way possible.

"Did you talk to mom about my computer, yet?" Brooke asked, glancing up.

"No, not yet. I'm sure she's busy right now." Siddeley answered as he loaded up the dishwasher, deciding not to bother his wife at the moment. "Brooke, do you think you could take out the rub—I mean, garbage?" Siddeley rolled his eyes... Again. Of _course_ Brooke hated it when he called 'garbage' 'rubbish'. Stupid America with their stupid words.

"Sure thing, right after I find that stupid…" her voice trailed off.

Ring, ring, went the phone on the counter. Brooke, already up looking for the stapler for her homework, picked it up.

"Hello?" She greeted. "Yeah, one sec." She replied into the phone, then walked to the other side of the room.

"Dad,"-she held out the "A" again-"Is the stapler in the basement?" She asked, handing the phone to her father.

"What was that?" Siddeley asked, having not heard his daughter the first time, rather distracted.

"Stapler? Basement?" She asked.

"Oh, yeah, yeah." He replied, then moved the phone up to his ear.

"Hello?" Siddeley left the kitchen and turned his back to the it, where Brooke was working, and started pacing the carpet in the living room.

"Hello, Siddeley." Answered a calm, gravelly voice.

Siddeley's face fell expressionless while the phone nearly slipped from his hand.

His eyes widened. As soon as he heard that voice, his head swam with painful memories, his blood boiled with anger, his stomach churned with fear—he held his breath as he tried not to panic.

 _It can't be..._ Was the thought that popped into his head.

October sixth, six o'clock in the afternoon, Siddeley realized that all these years he hasn't been able to hide. No one has. And they probably will never be able to.

Siddeley didn't bother disguising the panic in his voice. "Becca?!" Siddeley fearfully exclaimed after ending the call. He called once again for his wife, now running across the house and upstairs, not bothering to see if his daughter had been alarmed by his outburst.

Becca met him in their bedroom doorway. "What's wrong?"

Siddeley was panting from running up the stairs. "I... Got... Got a... Phone call." He managed to get out.

"A phone call?" Becca raised an eyebrow. "From who?"

"Whom..." He corrected, still panting. Becca lightly rolled her eyes. Siddeley looked into them with his own fear-filled ones. "You wouldn't believe me."

"Who, the Lemons or someone?" You've never gotten this worked up over any of them."

Siddeley worriedly ran his hand through his hair. "Oh my god, what are we going to do... He's back... He's really back... I can't... I don't... Brooke... And Cammie... Oh, God, I need to tell Finn right away...!"

"Siddeley..." Becca began, taking her husband's hands in an attempt to calm him down. "When you say "he"... You don't mean...?"

"She's so young... Brooke can't..." Siddeley trailed off.

Becca closed their bedroom door so their daughter wouldn't hear their conversation.

"Siddeley," Becca spoke in a worried voice. She grabbed Siddeley's shoulders and shook him a bit. "Siddeley, tell me who's back!"

"St-Stalker Siddeley..." Siddeley whispered.

"Stalk... No... No, no, no, it can't—you can't—please—he can't—"

"Mom? Daddy?" They heard Brooke say on the other side of the door.

Siddeley and Becca froze and in sync slowly turned their heads to look at the door.

Becca reached out to open it.

"There's no stapler in the basement." Brooke announced.

Siddeley and Becca exchanged a glance.

"Weird. Maybe Finn stole it." Siddeley suggested.

"More likely River." Brooke shrugged. "But why would River need a stapler...?" She pondered humorously.

Siddeley and Becca both forced chuckles. "Go do the rest of your homework, sweetie." Becca told her.

Brooke groaned. "But I wanna take a break..." She complained, but walked back the way she came to do the rest of her work, anyway.

...

"...so I told her to go away in German."

Cammie laughed at her friend's story along with the story-teller. "Well, I don't think that'll be happening again."

Her friend laughed and agreed. "Well, I'll see you at lunch."

"See you." Cammie smiled, then turned towards her locker. Upon besting her combination lock, she pushed up the lock and pulled the handle. Her locker swung open revealing the shadowy face of Stalker Siddeley, smiling at her. "I've been waiting for you, Cameron."

Cammie gasped and sat up. Panting, she hugged her knees and looked around her dorm. She had fallen asleep studying at her desk—again.

"Another nightmare?" A voice made her jump. She whipped around to see Miles—her boyfriend.

"Yeah." She sniffed and wiped the sleep out of her eyes.

"Why won't you ever tell me what they're about?" He asked, moving to sit next to her. Once seated, he put his arm around her.

"I just... You don't need to know." Cammie replied, looking away.

"Come on, at least gimme a reason." Miles smiled warmly.

Cammie looked him in the eye. "…I don't want to scare you." She guiltily replied.

Miles's smile slowly faded. "Alright." He replied, deciding to drop it. "Well… I'm gonna go get something to eat. Do you what anything?"

"No, thanks." Cammie replied as she rested her chin on her knees.

Miles stared worriedly at her before closing the door behind him. "Why don't you call your brother?" He suggested, then closed the door with a soft click.

...

Siddeley was sitting on the bed with his head in his hands while Becca stared worriedly out the window.

"You need to call Finn." Becca once again softly demanded.

Siddeley sighed. "But it's like, four in the morning in England right now, and I don't know if he's sleeping, or shooting the wall, or..."

"Sid, this is important! I'm sure he'll understand..." Becca urged.

Siddeley's phone vibrated from his bedside table. He picked it up and answered it.

"Hey."

"Sid, it's Cammie."

"Yeah, I've got caller ID." Sid smiled.

Cammie laughed nervously. "Sorry."

"So, what's the matter?"

"Sid... It's these dreams."

"...go on." Siddeley stood up. Becca moved across the room and urged Siddeley to sit next to her. Once they both had their ear to the receiver, Cammie continued.

"They're getting more vivid and happening more often, I... I dunno what..." She sighed.

Siddeley and Becca exchanged another glance.

"Okay. I have to tell him..." Sid sighed.

"What?" Cammie asked.

"Cammie... I think... I think it's _him_."

There was a thud on the other end. After some scuffling around, Cammie answered back.

"W-w-what?"

"Cammie, just be careful, okay? I'm... I've gotta tell Finn."

"Yeah... Yeah, g-go do that... Love you, Sid..."

"Love you too, Cam." Siddeley replied, then hung up.

"Calling him?" Becca asked.

"Yeah." Siddeley answered as he looked through his contacts and selected, "Finnie Boy."

* * *

 **Wow I had NO idea where to stop that chapter lmao. When I started this story two years ago, it was just this long long list of story for chapters and chapters. What the hell, 15-year-old me.**

 **This is probably a good place to cut it off.**

 **Reviews are always welcome! ESPECIALLY SINCE I HAVEN'T WRITTEN FANFICTION IN LIKE 2 YEARS AND I DON'T KNOW IF WHAT I'M WRITING IS GOOD OR NOT LMAO.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Surprisingly these chapters are all around the same length so far? Wonder how long THAT'S gonna keep up.**

 **Thank you for the reviews!**

 **lol remember when I wrote myself into my fanfics when I was like 13? hahaha unfortunately that's still a thing and I don't know how to change it. hahahahahah  
(I mean okay it obviously isn't EXACTLY me. It's like a taller, older, prettier, more talented and more paranoid version of me..? That also has psychological damage from childhood? lol?)**

* * *

Finn softly moaned at the noise coming from his bedside table. Without even bothering to look at the caller ID, he squinted to find the "answer" button and held it to his ear.

"If this is Siddeley and/or Mater I'm hanging up." He groaned.

" _Finn, if you hang up, I will never forgive you. This is important._ "

Finn rolled his eyes and groggily sat up. "What is it...? And _please_ don't tell me it's about the Ghostlight or some nonsense..."

" _Finn..._ " Siddeley warned.

Finn glanced next to him when a light turned on to see Stacy sitting up with her hand on the lamp on her bedside table.

Finn sat up a little straighter at his friend's tone of voice.

" _I got a call earlier today._ " Siddeley slowly explained.

"From whom?" Finn asked.

Siddeley hesitated for a moment. " _Finn, Stalker Siddeley called me._ " He enunciated each word.

Finn froze.

"Finn?" Stacy asked. "Finn, what's wrong?" She demanded as she saw the look on his face. It wasn't much, but it could still be classified as "panic" from Finn.

" _Finn?_ " Siddeley asked.

"We're packing our things and heading over to CHROME for a pilot to take us over there. I'll see you as soon as I can." Finn told Siddeley, hung up the phone, and leapt out of bed.

"Finn?!" Stacy threw her own covers off of her and got up.

"We have to go to Radiator Springs. Wake the kids and tell them to pack a few things."

"Not until you tell me what's going on." Stacy crossed her arms over her chest.

Finn stopped what he was doing and turned to look at her. "It's... _him_. Stalker Siddeley."

Stacy's eyes widened. "...I'll go wake the kids." She let out a shaky breath and hurried out of the room.

"River..." Stacy spoke softly as she rubbed her daughter's shoulder.

River groaned. "Five more minutes..."

Stacy laughed softly. "I'm not getting you up for school."

"You aren't?" Clementine jumped to a sitting up position.

"Would I be waking you up for school this early? Besides, tomorrow's Saturday."

River glanced at the clock. "What the heck, mum? I don't,"—the rest of her sentence was muffled by her pillow and she dropped it on top of her head—"wanna be up this early..."

"Come on, you two. Get up and pack clothes and things for a few days. We're catching a plane ASAP."

"What? Is dad okay?" Clementine asked.

"He's fine. Come on. Up!" Stacy urged, patting her daughter's back, then stood and walked out of the room.

She said the same to Leland.

"What's wrong?" He had asked.

Stacy told him the same thing she told his sisters.

"Okay." He replied as he rubbed his eye.

Stacy walked back and leaned against the doorway of her room to see Finn zipping up a suitcase.

"You should go make some kind of breakfast." He suggested.

Stacy watched Finn for a minute. "We need to call the school."

"Hm," Finn agreed. "I'll do it."

Sighing quietly, Stacy walked out into the hall and flipped on a light switch and she walked by.

"Mum, where are going?" River asked once in the kitchen.

"Radiator Springs." Stacy replied while getting things out of the fridge. "Would you like to eat anything?"

"What're ya making?" She asked.

"I was gonna make some eggs." Stacy replied.

"Okay." River agreed. "I'm gonna go get dressed." She announced, then left the kitchen.

Leland came into the kitchen a few minutes later with a suitcase. All the children had their own suitcases, seeing how the family traveled quite a bit.

He placed it in the foyer and then joined his mother in the kitchen.

"Want some eggs, Le?" Stacy asked, still successfully concealing the churning, anxious feeling in her stomach.

"Yes, please." Leland answered, sitting down at the table.

Stacy was in the process of bringing a plate of eggs over to Leland just as Finn entered the kitchen.

"Stacy," Finn began.

Stacy jumped slightly and dropped the plate of eggs onto the floor. Glass and bits of scrambled eggs spread out around her feet.

"God damn it," she whispered and got down to try and clean up with her shaky hands.

"What happened?" River asked, poking her head into the kitchen.

"River, darling, would you mind cleaning that plate up? Your mother and I have to discuss something."

River looked upset about the chore but obliged. "Sure." She frowned.

Finn led Stacy out of the kitchen and into the foyer as she was mumbling something about the "stupid slippery plate and stupid eggs and stupid floor".

"Are you alright?" He asked once they were out of earshot, taking his wife's shaking hands.

"Do you really think it's a good idea to bring the kids?" Stacy worriedly asked.

"Well... Quite honestly, no." Finn replied. "But where else are they supposed to go?"

Stacy sighed. "I just... I don't know. I'm not comfortable with... This _whole_ thing." She admitted. "Finn, I... I _died_." She whispered. "If that happens to either of us or the kids..."

Finn sighed and pulled his wife into a hug. "I know. I never want that to happen again, but... Siddeley called us for a reason."

"What if he... The doors?" She asked. "Finn, he showed us Gray. And he looked so... So _real_. I don't ever wanna see him again... And..." Stacy sighed. "I've gained a _lot_ of irrational fears since then, Finn!" Stacy complained.

"I know. Don't worry. If worse comes to worst, we'll get someone to watch all the children."

"Okay." Stacy agreed.

"Mum? Dad?"

Finn and Stacy spun around in panic to see Clementine. They exchanged a glance as if asking, _How long has she been standing there?!_

"I've got a suitcase." She announced.

Stacy forced a smile. "Great. Why don't you put it by Leland's?"

Clementine nodded and proceeded to do what her mother instructed.

...

"Sarah, please, Siddeley's not here, and we really need to get to Arizona." Finn pleaded.

Sarah sighed. "Fine." The CHROME pilot finally agreed. "But I'm landing in an airport, understand?"

Finn smiled. "Completely."

Stacy urged the children on board while Finn and Sarah talked about their destination.

"Mum?" River asked.

"Yes, sweetie?" Stacy turned around to look at her.

"Are you okay?"

"What do you mean, River?"

"I mean... You keep looking over your shoulder like you expect something to be there."

Stacy smiled. "Oh, that's just my paranoid self. You know that." She answered, stroking her daughter's hair.

"Why are we going to Radiator Springs?" Leland asked.

Sometimes Stacy really hated being the mother of the kids who inherited Finn McMissile's observation skills.

"Uncle Siddeley needs Dad's help."

"What's wrong with Uncle Siddeley? Is he okay?" Clementine inquired.

"Uncle Sid's paranoid, too." Stacy joked. "Now, come on, try to get some sleep before we get there." Stacy encouraged as she heard the jet start.

Finn walked up behind her and put his hand on her shoulder. They exchanged a worried glance.

"It'll be alright." Finn whispered and kissed her hair as she slipped into his embrace.

...

"Oh, so glad you could come so quickly." Becca sighed as she opened the door.

Of course, with afterburners to help, the normally long flight from England to Arizona was finished in more than half the time.

"Is Sid alright?" Finn—who had a sleeping Leland in his arms—asked.

"Yeah. I, uh... Made him take a sleeping pill. So, needless to say he was pretty loopy and out of it." Becca gave a small smile. "He's sound asleep. Where's Stacy?"

"Talking to Sally." Finn replied.

"I'm guessing she's got the girls?" Becca asked.

Finn nodded. "Clem and Leland—" Finn gently patted his son's back as he said his name, "—luckily fell asleep during the flight, but River..." Finn chuckled and sighed. "She's a paranoid girl. Won't stop asking what's going on. Gets that from her mother..." Finn pursed his lips.

"Obviously." Becca smiled. "What else did she get?"

Finn sighed. "Hopefully not the ability to gain dozens of irrational fears."

"I hear that." Becca sighed. "I'll never forget that night we all camped out in the café because of that storm. She would _not_ shut up about salting the windows." She laughed. "Anyway, you should get back to her at the Cozy Cone. Come by in the morning."

"Will do." Finn nodded. "Goodnight. Stay safe."

"You too." Becca replied, then closed the door.

 **So for now, my plan is to post a chapter a week. We'll see how long that lasts for. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯**

 **Anyway, reviews are very very nice. They make me smile. Almost as much as feedback on my art on tumblr. (Btw if you're Undertale trash, you can find the link to it on my profile ;D)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Oh. The length consistency didn't last very long at all. The next one goes back to being 1500 words, though, don't worry. Whoops, this one's a little longer.**

 **Oh, if anyone's curious, this story takes place in October of 2034. Normally I wouldn't bother deciding something so specific for a fanfic, but it actually really helped out with details to make the story more interesting, (days of the week and such for example,) so I thought I'd share.**

 **ALSO, I got a review from a guest asking if I could write a story where Finn and Stacy had kids, and interestingly enough, for a few years now I HAVE been working on like a big backstory fic for how Stacy like came to be friends with the spies and ended up marrying Finn and stuff? But I'm kinda terrified to post it? Idk lemme know what you think.**

* * *

 **Finn's POV**

As expected, Stacy had trouble falling asleep that night.

The Cozy Cone room she has gotten from Sally had two beds and a pullout couch. Stacy and I shared a bed, as did the girls. Leland had the couch to himself. He wasn't very happy when Stacy accidentally woke him up while setting up the couch, but he was happy about the privilege of sleeping on it alone.

I could hear Stacy tossing and turning, sighing to herself occasionally, while I stayed absolutely still.

Eventually, she gave up, realizing she wasn't going to be drifting off anytime soon. For a moment, I thought she was simply getting up to use the restroom, but I heard the door to the motel open and close.

I sat up to see that Stacy had gone outside. Glancing over at the children and seeing they had not been disturbed, I got up to follow her.

She didn't even jump at the sound of the door opening.

"Stacy?" I spoke quietly. She didn't answer, so I walked up behind her and put my hand on her shoulder. She didn't even flinch.

"Stacy, what's gotten int—?" I turned her to face me, and she fell, limp, to the ground.

"Stacy?!" I dropped to my knees and turned her over. She was pale, and her eyes were closed.

Her eyes then shot open to reveal glowing red ones. "Stacy's gone," Stalker Siddeley grinned at me, and laughed.

Breathing heavily, I sat up in bed.

Good Lord...

I looked to my left to see Stacy sleeping soundly. I put my head in my hands and tried to steady my breathing.

I didn't get any more sleep that night.

...

 **No POV**

The next morning, Finn and Stacy dropped their kids off at the café with some cash for breakfast and asked Mater to keep an eye on them, while the two of them went to visit Siddeley.

Brooke opened the door. "Uncle Finn...? Aunt Stacy? What are you guys doing here?" She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and yawned. She seemed a bit annoyed she had to be out of bed somewhat early on a Saturday.

"Who is it, Brooke?" They heard Becca call, thought she had a pretty good idea.

Becca walked into the foyer and smiled. "Morning," she said. She was wearing jeans and a green tshirt as opposed to her usual attire.

"Hey." Stacy smiled back. "Long time no see."

"Yep." Becca agreed as Brooke left upstairs to get dressed—or maybe go back to bed. Probably the latter, although Becca hoped otherwise.

"Can I get you anything?" Becca asked. "Coffee, breakfast..." She listed, unsure of what to offer.

"Some coffee would be wonderful, thank you." Finn smiled.

"Great," Becca nodded and went back into the kitchen, Finn and Stacy following after her.

"What about you, Stacy?" Becca asked.

"Actually, um, do you have any tea?" Stacy awkwardly asked. "I, um, I can't drink coffee."

Becca sort of snorted. "What, does Finn say you're not allowed? Does it make you too hyper?" she grinned.

Stacy shuffled her feet and wrung her hands. "No, it, um, it makes me sick."

"Ah." Becca shrugged. "Yeah, we've got some. You can look for yourself if you want, uh, tea bags are on the second to top shelf in the pantry."

Stacy nodded her thanks and went to search where she was directed.

"Where's Siddeley?" Finn asked, taking a seat at the kitchen table.

"He was in the shower right before you got here. He should be done soon." Becca explained, pouring Finn's cup of coffee. She set it in front of him, then took the seat on the opposite side of the table. "Where'd you put the kids?" She asked.

"Gave 'em cash for Flo's," Stacy replied as she stood deciding over some boxes of tea.

"I should send Brooke down there." Becca said, more to herself than her company as Stacy made her way over and sat down next to Finn.

The room had fallen silent except for the coffee maker and the clinking of glass as Stacy stirred her beverage. The stairs creaked, and they all redirected their gazes to Siddeley coming down the stairs.

"Hey," he greeted. Stacy and Finn politely smiled.

"We came as fast as we could," Stacy reassured him.

"I know. What time did you get here last night?"

Finn sighed. "Late."

"Did you guys get any sleep at all?" Becca asked.

"I don't even know," Stacy admitted as she downed more tea. "Probably."

"A little." Finn agreed.

"Finn, I'm sorry..." Siddeley took a seat across from his friends.

"It's not _your_ fault, Sid." Stacy cracked a smile. "But, so... What exactly happened...?" She asked, brushing some hair behind her ear that had fallen from her bun.

"Brooke?" Becca called.

"Yeah?" Came their daughter's voice from upstairs.

"Your cousins are at Flo's, do you wanna go join them?" Becca suggested.

"Sure," Brooke said as she made her way down the stairs. She still looked tired, but eager to spend time with the other kids. She smiled at her parents, opened the front door and was gone.

"Be safe!" Siddeley called before the door shut.

"Sure thing, Da-a-ad!" She obliged, once again awkwardly holding out the "A."

"When does she get off for spring break?" Stacy asked, ignoring the strange way she addressed her father.

"In a few days. Kinda weird that it starts in the middle of the week, though." Becca shrugged.

Siddeley sighed. Becca took his hand in hers and they exchanged a glance. She softly smiled at him, as if telling him to go ahead.

"Yesterday afternoon I got a phone call." He began. "That's what I told you, that he called me." Siddeley's voice was trembling.

"Sid, what _exactly_ did he say?" Finn put down his cup of coffee.

"J-just two words," The volume in which Siddeley spoke lowered tremendously. "He said, "hello, Siddeley"."

"Is that it?" Stacy asked. Her mug of tea was shaking slightly in her hands. "Just... Hi?"

"It means he's here... Or _going_ to be here..." Finn leaned back in his chair, his hand over his mouth in thought.

"So, basically just, 'Yo Siddeley, sup, I'm comin' to visit and you can't do anything about it, haha'?" Stacy raised an eyebrow. Finn lightly elbowed her, receiving a quiet, "hey…" from her afterwards.

"What exactly do we _do_?" Becca asked. "It's not like we can prevent this, right...?"

"We could salt—"

"No." Finn shot Stacy a look. "We're not salting the windows.

Stacy crossed her arms. "Okay, so but did we ever find out _exactly_ what he is? We got the main idea, but it _could_ work on him...!"

"He's not exactly a ghost, Stacy." Siddeley sighed. "Besides," he looked over at her. "How do you know that superstition works, anyway?"

Stacy opened her mouth to reply, then closed it.

"...Holy water, then."

Finn groaned.

"I don't hear anyone else coming up with ideas!" She snapped at her husband.

"What about Andy?" Finn asked. He turned back to Sid and Becca. "Is he still here?"

Siddeley and Becca looked down at the table, around the room, anywhere except Finn and Stacy.

"...he's... _not_ still here, then..." Stacy gathered.

"You could say that..." Becca was twiddling her thumbs.

Stacy and Finn started at their friends, trying to figure out what had happened.

"Oh, my god." Stacy suddenly gasped. "He isn't...? He's not... _gone_ , gone... Is he?"

"No, no," Becca quickly reassured. "He's alive and well, he just... Um... How do I explain this?"

"He mutated one of his cats and had to leave town." Siddeley cut in.

Stacy was first to answer. "...oh."

"Well..." Finn wasn't sure what else to reply, either.

"Yeah..." Siddeley cringed.

"But, I mean... He didn't take all his inventions with him, did he?" Stacy asked.

"No, I don't think so." Becca shook her head. "We can check later."

"Sounds good." Finn nodded.

"In the meantime," Stacy stood up and sighed. "I'm gonna make sure the kids aren't giving Flo too much trouble. Thanks for the tea." She smiled.

"No problem," Becca told her.

"Finn?" Stacy turned toward her husband.

"I'll stay here and chat with Sid, if you don't mind."

"Not at all. I'll call you if I need anything." Stacy smiled.

"See you soon!" Becca called after her as she left.

"Yup!" Stacy agreed and was gone.

…

"You're _sure_ that's all he said?" Finn asked once again.

"Yes, I'm sure!" Siddeley sighed. "I'm sorry, it's just..."

"I understand." Finn looked at the ground.

"Bet this must be awkward for you." Siddeley cracked a smile. "Remember when you didn't believe me about this? Now we're here talking about it without even greeting each other like old friends." He chuckled darkly.

Finn sighed, though his mouth was crooked in a half smile. "Yeah. Interesting how that worked out. We didn't, though, did we?"

"No." Siddeley agreed. "How are you?"

"Fine." Finn mused. "You?"

"I'm good. We're good. Brooke's good, too."

"Good, good." Finn nodded.

"So many 'goods'... And your kids?"

"They're fine." Finn smiled.

"And Stacy's doing okay?" Siddeley looked over at his best friend.

Finn sighed and looked down at the floor. "She _was_." He admitted. "Now she's... _We're_... Scared."

Siddeley let out a deep sigh. "I know the feeling..."

"Stacy's really worried about the kids." Finn explained. "And the... Doors." He added. Siddeley shivered.

"I feel the same way. Brooke is so young... She shouldn't go through what we did. None of the kids should."

"What should we tell them? They're already curious why we're here." Finn pointed out.

"I don't know." Siddeley shrugged. "To be honest, I thought Stacy would've come up with a story by now.

"Trust me, she's been trying." Finn laughed quietly. "Everything she comes up with would sound exciting to the children, though."

"Yeah, probably. I'd try telling them you're on a mission, but they'd want in on it. And what else would you tell them, you're helping me with supernatural activity?"

"They wouldn't believe us." Finn smiled.

"Maybe just say it's something boring. Like..." Siddeley sighed.

Finn looked at the analog clock on the wall. "I should probably get going." Finn announced.

"Yeah," Siddeley agreed.

"Who else have you told about the call?" Finn asked as he rose to his feet.

"Besides Becca? Just you two. Becca was gonna tell Flo later."

Finn nodded in understanding. "I don't know if we should make everyone aware or keep them in the dark for a while..."

"Let's keep it to ourselves, for now. We'll tell them if we need to." Siddeley suggested. Finn nodded.

"What about Cammie?" He asked.

"I called her... But I didn't... I mean, not _really_..." Siddeley frowned. "Should I?"

"If you think so. I'd say she deserves to know."

"Yeah, but... I don't know. She's busy with school, and..."

The two friends glanced towards the window when they heard faint thunder in the distance.

"Hm..." Siddeley hummed. "That's weird."

"A bit, yeah..." Finn agreed. "Alright. I'm going." He announced with a sigh.

"Yeah." Siddeley nodded. "If we don't see you later, we'll see each other again tomorrow morning to check out Andy's old place."

"Sounds good." Finn nodded again, and after saying goodbye to Becca, left.

* * *

" **Her eyes then shot open to reveal glowing red ones. "You must have misunderstood. SINCE WHEN WERE YOU THE ONE IN CONTROL?""  
Yes I'd like to formerly apologize I just think of Chara whenever I think of red eyes now okay I'm sorry I'm Undertale trash forgive me  
Currently laughing for 50 years I just compared Stalker Siddeley to Chara lol  
Woah. WOAH. WAIT. WAIT MAYBE I'M ONTO SOMETHING HERE.  
(no i'm not ignore me)**

 **It's crazy that I'm actually like making progress and posting this story. Like. For like 3 years now this fic has just been a huge continuous story in the notes on my phone. And people are actually ENJOYING it? It's crazy, man.**

 **Reviews make me very very happy btdubs**


	4. Chapter 4

**Alright return of the length-consistency! YAY CONSISTENCY!**

 **Thank you so much for the reviews! They all make my day owo**

 **Gothic Guest: Yes actually I am! I've had a sequel to Experience in the idea stages for a while, now! Now I just… Actually have to write it out. Oops.**

* * *

Finn found Stacy at the café chatting with Holley and Mater.

Finn smiled. He hadn't seen his old spy partner in a while.

"Finn!" Holley grinned. She stood to hug her old friend. "How are you?" She smiled.

Finn smiled back. "Could be better, but it's great to see you again."

"Aw, what's wrong?" She asked.

"Right, Siddeley hasn't told you?" Finn asked, looking over at Stacy, who stretched out her mouth and made a face that looked like it would go along with a shrug.

Holley and Finn sat back down. "Told us what?" She asked, taking Mater's hand.

"Uh..." Stacy began. She was intently twiddling her thumbs.

"He said he doesn't wanna worry anyone yet..." Finn cut in.

"Worry anyone? With what?" Holley asked.

"Uh... Uh... His..." Stacy stuttered.

"Hey, Mummy!"

"GAH!" Stacy spun around to see Clementine. "Clem, sweetheart, don't _do_ that!"

Clementine giggled. "Sorry...!"

Stacy sighed. "What's up?"

Maggie, Holley and Mater's second oldest, popped up next to Clementine. "Can Clem hang out in the treehouse later?" She grinned at Holley.

"Yeah, can I?" Clementine bounced up and down in excitement.

The adults chuckled. "I'm fine with it." Stacy smiled over at her friends. "Holley?"

"Of course." Holley's lips curled into a smile.

The kids went back to what they had been previously doing.

"Finn?" Mater looked at his old friend. "What's goin' on?"

Finn quietly sighed. "Later. We'll tell you later. Siddeley will fill you in eventually."

"Okay..." Holley hesitantly agreed.

"Hey, look!" Gus, Mater and Holley's oldest, exclaimed as he pointed out the window.

"There's nothing out there, Gus." Holley frowned.

"No, the clouds!" He pointed slightly higher. "Is it gonna rain, Dad?"

"I dunno, Gus." Mater shrugged. "It might. Them clouds is pretty dark."

"I hope so." Stacy grinned. "I really hope so."

"Stacy, what happened to being a good role model for the children?" Finn murmured as Stacy began jumping up and down in her seat.

"Meh," she sneered as she stopped. She playfully hit her head against Finn's shoulder, and he laughed.

"Oh, hey," Stacy sat up straight. "Holley, you never did tell us why you let Gus be named "Gus." I've been wondering about that for a really long time, now."

Holley looked surprised. "Oh," she replied. "Well, "August" was Mater's father's name."

"Oh, that's nice." Stacy smiled sincerely. "Figured it must've been something like that."

Holley and Mater laughed. "Why wait so long t' ask?" Mater asked.

Stacy shrugged. "Never got around to it. Oh," she suddenly smiled, taking out her phone.

"What are you doing?" Finn asked, leaning over.

"Radar." Stacy grinned, loading her weather radar app. "Hey, Gus," Stacy turned around. The children all looked at her. "Take a look. You see all that green and yellow and red coming towards the little pin in the map?"

"Yeah?" Mater and Holley's youngest, Nathan, nodded.

"That's the rain coming towards Radiator Springs."

Clementine looked closer. "Oh-h, cool!"

Stacy beamed at her daughter as more thunder rolled in the distance.

...

 **Finn's POV**

Thunderstorms never seemed to bother Stacy.

This always surprised me, considering all the irrational fears she had gained over the years. I was never fond of storms, myself, yet Stacy was always interested in them. Of course, her love of lightning was only second to her fascination with space and the night sky.

"Nature's fireworks," she'd say lightning was. "Better than any Fourth of July show _I've_ ever seen." She'd say, eyes twinkling as she gazed out the window as lightning shattered the sky. "Even the ones at Radiator Springs?" I'd ask. "Yup," she'd smile. "Their lightning is way better."

I'd always ask which one—the storms or the race car driver? She'd playfully hit my arm and tell me "you know what I meant."

Lightning was alright, I supposed. Just electricity. Easy to get away from, to be safe from. But thunder was loud. Loud and ominous, it brought back memories of people lost and broken trust.

Stacy always told me not to be so dramatic.

The lights flickered, grabbing both my attention and Stacy's. She stared at the dimming lights uneasily for a moment, then slowly turned back towards the window. I smiled sympathetically in her direction. Now _that_ was one of her biggest fears. The dark.

The lights dimmed again and the TV quieted down for a moment along with the fading light. "Dad?" Leland worriedly called over to me.

"It's alright, Le." I called back, not taking my eyes off of Stacy.

Clementine walked over to me, most likely spooked that the storm was trying to knock the power out. She wrapped her hands about my arm and I looked over at her.

"Is that the storm messing with the power?" She asked.

I nodded. "Towns like Radiator Springs don't get much rain. Exciting things happen when you aren't very prepared for something." I explained, picking her up and setting her down on my knee, like I'd seen my father do to my young sister countless times when I was a boy.

"It's not exciting." She frowned. "It's scary."

"Well, that just depends on how you look at it." I smiled down at her.

The power went out with a pop. Everyone was silent for a moment.

The thunder and lightning seemed more eerie than before. I almost jumped when I realized Leland had made his way over to me. So had River, I noticed. She mostly looked annoyed that the show they were watching had been interrupted.

We all turned to look over at Stacy, who has produced a torch. Of _course_ she carried a torch around with her, I'd realized years before.

"How is this exciting, again?" River asked me. She sounded uncomfortable, but not exactly scared.

"Let's see," Stacy announced, looking through her bag. "For emergencies," she smiled, and pulled out a few candles.

"You really brought those with you?" I asked her.

"'Course I did!" She answered. "Reminds me of a certain video game." She grinned.

I rolled my eyes. "Well, I don't see a night vision camera, so that's good, I suppose."

"I _do_ have it, but that's just for me when I'm alone in the dark." She shrugged. I almost groaned at how she could say something like that so seriously, but I settled for a sigh. "For _groups,_ though, that's what the flashlight and candles are for."

Leland went over to her as she lit the candles.

"Kinda lame, I know." She told him. "But I think it's kinda cool. Once when I was about River's age, there was a power outage and we had all been given candles or flashlights for that exact reason. I sat drawing by candlelight for hours. I felt like I had time traveled, or something."

"Can we do that, then?" Leland asked. "Draw and write and stuff by the candles?"

"Sure, sweetheart." Stacy ruffled his hair. She smiled at me, then sat back down by the window. I forget that sometimes she can actually be a responsible parent. Then again, she did just give her kids fire to play with... Wait...

"What are you drawing?" Clementine asked her brother in a hushed voice.

"Dad and Aunt Holley," Leland replied.

"I'm gonna write a letter," Clementine smiled. "Like it's a hundred years ago."

River decided to go over and watch her siblings.

I stood and walked over to Stacy by the window. I hesitated before putting my hand on her shoulder, remembering the dream I had the other night. I did, and she placed her hand on top of mine. The action comforted me. I almost forgot about the nightmare.

"Wait, what's that?" I heard River ask.

"A bad guy!" Leland said as if it was obvious.

I turned my head to look at them.

"...he doesn't even look like a _guy_." River picked up the paper to get a closer look. "What's he inside?"

"A car." Leland pouted.

"What the heck kinda car is that?" River squinted at the paper.

"It's, uh..." Leland trailed off. "I don't remember."

Clementine glanced over. "It's a grapefruit!"

"What? No, that's not it. They're, like... Uh..."

"Grapefruits." Clementine nodded encouragingly.

"Yeah, maybe." Leland shrugged. River sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Please don't correct them." Stacy whispered to me. "That's adorable." She grinned.

"I'll have to tell Siddeley," I agreed with a smile.

Stacy and I turned our heads back towards the children when the candles suddenly went out.

"Hey!" Clementine exclaimed. "Leland...!" She whined.

"It wasn't me!" Leland argued. "River?!" he accused.

Stacy's hand tightened around mine and I heard her take in a sharp breath.

"Why would I blow out the candles?!" River shot back at him.

"Oh..." I breathed. I took Stacy's hand in both my own.

"Mum...?" Clementine asked, worry in her voice.

"Don't worry, sweetheart." I could tell Stacy was struggling to keep her voice steady. "Probably just..."

"What?" Leland asked.

Stacy flipped on her torch on and shone it near the children. My heart nearly stopped, while Stacy's breath hitched and stopped as we both stared.

The children were staring at us with puzzled looks. Behind them, there stood a dark figure.

"Kids..." I calmly began. "Would you please come over here?"

"Uh... Okay...?" River responded. The three obeyed nonetheless.

"Dad, what's going on?" Leland looked up at me.

"Nothing." I told him.

"Mum...?" Clementine asked. "Mummy, why're you shaking? What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Stacy's voice cracked. She cleared her throat.

The light from the torch flickered and turned off. Lightning flashed, then the figure was gone.

Stacy took a deep breath. "Everything's fine." She reassured.

* * *

 **Oh fudgebuckets stuff's going down :D**

 **Aw yiss chapter 4, ft. some angst-y monologuing from Finn. :3 That was fun to write lol.**

 **Finn: "Lightning was alright, I supposed."**

 **Lightning: "HEY COME SAY THAT TO MY FACE, MCMISSILE D:"**

 **Alright so hang on my favorite part of this chapter is:  
""Sure, sweetheart." Stacy ruffled his hair. She smiled at me, then sat back down by the window. I forget that sometimes she can actually be a responsible parent. Then again, she did just give her kids fire to play with... Wait..."**  
 **Lol how responsible of a parent can you really be when you give your children fire to play with lmao**

 **Reviews make me smile~**


	5. Chapter 5

**And back with the length inconsistency. Yee**

 **Eyyy, guess what? I'm gonna be doing a dumb Q &A thing for some of my OCs (and probs some actual characters in regards to how they're related to my OCs :P) over on deviantart! I think I'm gonna have the actual questions sent via my tumblr so you can ask anonymously if you really wanted to? But ye, I think it'll be stupid and fun. My deviantart username is on my fanfiction profile, so you can find me there for more information. I should have a journal posted about what's going down. Go check it out!**

 **(this is probably also a good time to tell you that this is the last chapter I had all written out, and idk when I can write the next one, so that Q &A thing will probably be a good way to pass the time while you wait? Idk don't listen to me i'M NOT SURE OF ANYTHING :D)**

* * *

 **No POV**

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Siddeley called after the rapid knocking on the door, shining a flashlight around. "For the love of llamas throwing cheese at—" Siddeley opened the door and Stacy rushed in with her folded-up umbrella and immediately started talking.

"Is Brooke asleep?" She asked.

"Uh... Y-yeah?" Siddeley answered, closing the front door. "Where's Finn?"

"Watching the kids," Stacy replied, appearing to mildly search the house from where she stood. "I need to talk to you." She turned to face him.

"About what?" Siddeley asked, though he had a pretty good idea.

"He's here." Stacy breathed.

"W-what?!" Siddeley's eyes widened. " _Damn_ it, that was fast..." He worriedly ran a hand through his hair. "How do you know?!"

"We had candles lit in the motel, right?" She began explaining. "They randomly went out and when I turned on my flashlight..." She took a shaky breath and continued in a whisper, "Behind the kids, he... He was just... There." She breathed.

"Did he do anything?!" Siddeley continued in the same volume.

Stacy frantically shook her head. "No," She gulped. "No, not... Not yet, anyway." She wrapped her arms around herself. "Where's Becca?" she realized.

"She's asleep, too." Siddeley explained. Stacy nodded in understanding.

"Sid, what do we do?" She whispered.

"Go to Andy's old place. Tomorrow morning, bright and early. Remember?"

Stacy nodded. "We'll be there."

Siddeley took a deep breath and fell backwards onto the couch in the foyer. Stacy sat down next to him.

"Oh," Stacy sounded calmer. "Before the... You know. Leland was drawing, and he and Clem..." She chuckled. "They couldn't remember what the Lemons were called."

"Okay...?" Siddeley wasn't following.

"Well, guess what they called them." Stacy smiled.

"Limes?" Siddeley shrugged.

Stacy grinned. "Grapefruits."

Siddeley stared at Stacy square in the face. "...alright. That's adorable." Siddeley chuckled.

...

"So... What, exactly happened to Andy, again?" Stacy asked the next morning as she ran her hand over one of her "brother"'s old dusty inventions. "His cats...?"

"He accidentally mutated one of them, like we told you." Becca repeated.

"So, he had to leave town." Siddeley nodded.

"What, did you guys, like, kick him out, or...?" Stacy turned to face them.

"No, no," Becca explained. "He was convinced it would be safest for everyone if he dropped everything and got his animals out of here."

"And no idea where he went?" Stacy asked, looking back at the dusty machines.

"He mentioned something about Korea," Siddeley spoke up, looking through some old boxes. "But no one knows for sure."

"Seoul? No, Busan?" Becca suggested.

"Sounds familiar. But I dunno." Siddeley shrugged.

"So, did you, uh... Have you told your sister, yet?" Stacy asked, searching through some old boxes.

"No." He sighed. "I'm still debating."

"I think she should know." Finn offered.

Siddeley thought back to after the last situation they had. Cammie... Cammie had become the new victim, hadn't she? She saw Stalker Siddeley in her dreams and over her shoulder, not Siddeley. It would only be fair if he told her.

Besides he had already scared her by telling her about the phone call.

"Yeah," Siddeley agreed with another sigh. "Yeah, she should."

"Isn't she busy with school?" Becca pointed out, shaking dust of another box.

"I'd assume so. But... I don't know. I don't want to worry her, but she'll probably come out here once she knows for sure."

"What's she studying?" Stacy asked.

"Aviation." Siddeley replied.

"For CHROME, or...?" She asked.

"No, no." Siddeley shook his head. "Just in general."

"Oh. Nice." Stacy shrugged. "Hey!" Stacy perked up upon noticing a machine with a sheet over it. "That looks familiar." She smiled, yanking the sheet off. She broke into a coughing fit when it sent a bunch of dust into the air.

"Well," Finn walked over to her. His voice was laced with sarcasm as he commented, "That was smart."

"Oh, shut up." Stacy swatted at him. "Look," she turned her attention back to the machine.

"Yep, that's it, all right." Siddeley agreed.

"How does it work? I was spacing out when he explained it." Stacy frowned.

"I wasn't paying attention, either." Finn admitted.

" _Finn_? Not paying attention? What has the world come to?" Siddeley asked with mock shock in his voice.

"Sid, it was over ten years ago. Give us a break." Stacy crossed her arms.

"It was a stressful situation," Becca agreed with a nod.

"He mentioned a button," Stacy contributed.

"Yeah, but he also said he forgot to add said button. There was a remote..." Sid remembered.

"Yeah, yeah, there was." Finn nodded, shaking a finger in thought. "It can't be far."

Stacy quite literally dove into a nearby box. "Wait! I found a thing!" She exclaimed, coming out of the box, holding a remote. "Does it work?" She pressed a button on the remote. A machine on the opposite side of the room roared to life, startling everyone.

"Shit! That's—crap, how d—?!" Stacy desperately tried to turn it off. "There," she pressed the button again and it shut down. "No idea what that was."

"Obviously not what we're looking for." Becca frowned.

"What about this?" Siddeley picked up a dusty remote near his feet. The "Stalker-Detector" lit up.

"Does that mean it's working, or...?" Finn tried inspecting it.

"I hope so." Siddeley shrugged.

"It's the seventh... Right?" Stacy asked.

"Yes..." Finn answered, unsure of her point.

"So... Hang on, lemme look at..." Her sentence ended in incoherent murmurs. "Sid, he called you exactly a week in advance of the thirteenth..." Stacy slowly explained.

"The thir..." Siddeley trailed off. "So we have a week."

"Until what...?" Finn wondered aloud.

"Until..." Becca sighed.

"You two saw him last night, though. Didn't you?" Siddeley spoke up.

"What?!" Becca turned back to look at Finn and Stacy.

"We're not sure." Finn admitted. "We saw... _Something_."

Stacy nodded in agreement. "It was gone before we could get a good look at it."

The "Stalker-Detector" made some strange noises from the other side of the room and everyone turned to look at it.

"Okay, hold up." Stacy announced. "I'm gonna go poke around Andy's old office to see if he left any instructions or anything lying around."

"Good plan." Becca half-heartedly agreed as Stacy hurried off.

As soon as she was gone, Becca spun around to face Finn. " _You_ saw _him? What the hell—why didn't you_ tell _me? What happened?! Tell me_ exactly."

Finn took a step back in surprise. "He—he was only there for a moment, it—Stacy said you were asleep when she went to tell Sid!"

Becca sighed and crossed her arms. "I'm sorry. It's just… I'm sorry. I'm a bit on-edge right now."

"We all are." Finn frowned.

"Ack!" They heard from the other room, followed by a loud crash. "What the hell?!" They heard Stacy hiss.

Finn hurried into the office. "Stacy? What happened?"

"There was this freaking—who leaves a _tower_ of pet cages and machine parts in the corner of an office?! Damn it, Andy…" She groaned.

Finn moved to help her up but she swatted his arm. "I'm fine, I'm fine, don't move." She moved to get up herself, but winced, causing another metal part to fall, which made her yelp out of surprise.

"…please help." She quietly proposed with a pout.

Finn sighed and grabbed her hands. "Are you alright?"

"Fine." Stacy frowned. "Gonna be covered in bruises tomorrow, but fine."

"You're bleeding."

"What?"

"You're bleeding."

Stacy glanced over where Finn was referring to. There was a big gash in her arm. "Oh. Would you look at that. I thought my arm felt warmer and wetter than usual."

"We should probably take you t—"

"Yeah, yeah, in a minute." Stacy cut him off. "What's this?" she bent down and moved a box labeled 'sis'.

Upon opening it, she let out an exasperated sigh. "Of _course_ you'd hide this behind your leaning tower of murderous metal, you _walnut_." She grumbled. She folded up a letter that was inside and slipped it into her pocket. "Alright, let's go."

They left the room and walked past Sid and Becca. "Hey, found something that might help us." Stacy announced.

" _After_ we get you to the clinic." Finn stressed.

"After we get me to the clinic." Stacy repeated.

"Wh…" Siddeley began but trailed off upon seeing Stacy's arm.

"Come on, I'll explain on the way." Stacy urged, and hesitant couple followed after them.

* * *

 **Well that was a really lame cliffhanger. Sorry.**

 _ **Don't forget to check out my deviantart for info about the Q &A! **_


	6. Chapter 6

**My tablet is broken and until I work up the nerve to call customer support I can't draw so I'm writing yay**

 **Remember how I was gonna leave the QnA open for a short amount of time? Yeah that didn't happen it's just a thing now. xD You can ask my OCs and peeps questions any time lol. Even me if you really wanted to. My cute little persona will answer. It's good fun.**

 **WOW I HAVEN'T UPDATED IN A WHILE JESUS I'M SORRY Wow**

 **ANYWAY thank you so much for reviews, they really make my day. (after I get over the initial anxiety of "oh no a review what if they said something bad," of course.)**

* * *

" _Can't you just wrap it up or something? Is that_ really _necessary!?"_

"Jeez, she's so loud we can hear her all the way out in the waiting room." Becca sighed, slouching in her seat.

"That… _Probably_ means she needs stitches." Finn pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. "Which she hates."

"Well they better hurry up, I wanna know what's on that paper." Siddeley crossed his arms. Glancing over at Finn, he asked, "Can't we look at it now?"

"Siddeley, I _told you,_ not until Stacy gets out. It's addressed to her, after all." Finn repeated, shooting Siddeley an annoyed look.

"What if we read it first, and then pretend to be surprised when she reads it back to us again." Siddeley suggested.

Finn's annoyed look deepened.

"It was just a suggestion." He pouted, once again crossing his arms and sliding lower into his seat.

"Mr. McMissile?"

Finn redirected his gaze at the nurse who called his name. "Yes?"

"Your wife, um…" The nurse looked uncomfortable.

Finn sighed, standing up. "Is she being difficult…?"

"…yes, sir."

"Very well…" Finn ran a hand through his hair, visibly growing more annoyed.

Siddeley and Becca watched the nurse direct him through the door she had come through, and she then followed him through it.

"…what the hell does that mean, "being difficult"?" Becca narrowed her eyes in confusion.

"Arguing with the doctors, probably." Siddeley shrugged.

"Don't say it like you don't do the same thing." Becca cocked an eyebrow at her husband, silencing him.

Siddeley smiled sheepishly.

…

"Yes, I'm _fine_ now, gimme the damn paper!" Stacy snapped.

"Don't you want to wait until we're out of the clinic?" Finn asked, not really expecting his wife to comply.

"No." Stacy frowned. "Gimme." She held out her hand.

Finn sighed and took the folder up paper out of his pocket. He barely placed it in Stacy's hand before she snatched it away.

" _Dear Stacy,"_ Stacy began. "' _As you've probably heard, I've banished myself to Korea._ ' What the hell does…"

"Keep going," Becca urged.

"Right, sorry." Stacy skimmed over the letter, occasionally voicing a few phrases. " _Banished myself to Korea… Pets didn't like… I wanted to continue my experiments where I could do some good with them… After researching…'_ Uh… There's not much here about any of the experiments he left, I think he just—oh, wait! ' _If you ever want to use any of the devices I've left behind, I accidentally made a bad habit out of not writing instructions down."_

"Great." Siddeley sighed.

" _But,_ " Stacy continued. " _I always had a sneaking suspicion that you guys may need the Stalker-Detector again sometime in the future, so before I left I quickly jotted down some notes on how to use it. Fair warning though, I'm not sure how effective it'll be by then. It's still worth a try to boot it up though, just to be safe._ "

"Not as effective?" Becca crossed her arms. "What do you, uh… What do you suppose that means?"

"What it sounds like." Finn frowned. "But like he said, it's still worth a try to start it up. Stacy, did he say where he left the instructions?"

"Uh… Gimme a sec." Stacy said, reading through more of the letter. "Yeah, right here, he says he left them in his safe behind the… Picture of… Okay."

Siddeley tilted his head. "The picture of what?"

"…yeah it's probably best if you don't know." Stacy frowned. "Anyway, he also says that depending on when I read this, he may have sent a follow-up letter to Fillmore for me. So I guess I'm off to Fillmore's."

"Don't you think it'd be better to go turn on the Stalker-Detector first?" Siddeley asked.

"No seriously what the hell is the picture of." Becca crossed her arms.

"Sure, let's stop off and get the instructions, first." Stacy nodded. "That's... The smart thing to do, anyway."

"What is the picture of?!" Becca demanded.

Stacy sighed. "I guess you'll see."

…

"Where the hell did he… When did he… _Why_ did he…?" Becca stood behind Andy's old desk, looking at the picture on the wall.

"…can we do that?" Siddeley turned to his wife.

"No!" Becca snapped. "…maybe?"

"Okay, goodbye, picture of Andy that makes him look like a general in the… Civil War or something. Where did he get that horse. Why is this here. Anyway," Stacy rambled as she took the large, framed picture off the wall. "Here we go," she said, getting to work on the safe.

"You know the combination?" Finn asked.

"I think so. He left a hint in the letter, I'm _pretty_ sure I know what it is." Stacy nodded.

"What was the hint?" Becca asked.

"Something to do with an anime we watched when we were kids. I doubt you'd understand it." Stacy explained. "Four-two-four-two …" she murmured as she turned the dial. "Five… Six… Four."

Click.

"Nice! Andy, you _weeb_." Stacy grinned.

"Um." Sid raised an eyebrow.

"Finn, do you wanna try to start it up?" Stacy asked, handing Finn the instructions.

"Sure." Finn nodded, and left the room with the instructions.

"By the way…" Becca spoke up.

"Hm?" Siddeley turned to her.

"Is it just me, or… Should we come up with a better name for him than "Stalker Siddeley"?" Becca asked.

"…it _is_ a name you came up with when you were a kid." Stacy nodded. "It does sound more than a little ridiculous to say the name seriously."

"Actually… That _does_ sound like a good idea." Siddeley put his hands in his jean pockets. "Any ideas?"

"Hm… What about Omega Siddeley?" Stacy grinned.

"Omega Siddeley?" Becca repeated with a cocked eyebrow.

"Sure! It… Fits? Probably?" Stacy shrugged. "I mean, you're Alpha Sid, since Stalker Sid technically came from you. Right? From what we read all those years ago."

"Yeah… But "Omega"? That's just… It sounds really cliché."

"Uh… Okay, how about… Sigma Sid. See, it's even an alliteration." Stacy suggested. "I mean, "Omega" is usually associated with destruction, or possible outcomes of an experiment, so I mean… But okay."

"Why do you know so much about the Greek alphabet?" Becca asked.

"…uh…" Stacy hesitated.

"Best not to ask," Finn called from the other room.

"But anyway, Sigma can also be associated with uncertainty. So. Omega or Sigma. How about it." Stacy crossed her arms with a smile playing at her lips.

Siddeley and Becca exchanged a glance.

"I've always been a fan of alliteration, myself." Becca contributed.

"Sigma Siddeley it is!" Stacy grinned.

Just as Siddeley sort of nodded in agreement and Becca shrugged her indifference, they heard whirring from the next room.

"Alright, I think that did it." Finn announced as he reentered the room. The sleeves of his dress shirt were rolled up and his arms and face were dirty, causing Siddeley to very loudly question his appearance.

"Apparently, it's older than we remember. It… Coughed on me." Finn sheepishly admitted.

"It _coughed_ on you." Stacy repeated in disbelief.

"Anyway," Finn cleared his throat. "Next stop: Fillmore's. Right?"

"Uh, yeah." Stacy nodded, going along with the subject change. "I wanna see if Andy ever got around to sending that follow-up letter."

"Finn, you, uh… Might wanna clean up a little first…?" Becca suggested.

"…do you think Andy left any towels here?" Finn quietly asked Stacy.

Stacy couldn't help but laugh a little. "Why are you so embarrassed about it?" She grinned. "Let's go see."

…

"Fillmore!" Stacy called, knocking on the side of his… Hut. "Fillmore! Geez, why doesn't this guy have a door. I don't wanna barge in there if he's like… Naked or doing drugs or something." She whispered to her friends.

"You really think Fillmore does drugs?" Becca asked in a disbelieving tone. "Don't you think Sheriff would be on his case all the time?"

"Well he definitely smokes _something._ " Stacy frowned.

"I mean… _Maybe._ It's a strong possibility at this point." Siddeley shrugged, earning him a glare from Becca. "But still unlikely!" He added once seeing his wife's face.

"Fillmore!" Stacy called again, knocking on the side of Fillmore's residence once again.

"Hey!" Snapped a voice in the yard over. The four all turned their heads to see Sarge, standing outside his house, looking rather annoyed.

"Oh hey, Sarge." Sid frowned. "Uh… What's up?" he asked.

"What's _up_ is Miss Loudmouth yelling for someone that's not even home! Can't a guy have some peace and quiet?"

Siddeley snickered. "Miss Loudmouth."

Stacy punched him in the side, causing him to make a choking noise and bend over. "Sarge, do you have any idea where Fillmore is?" she asked politely as Sid doubled over in pain.

"Hm…" Sarge frowned, bringing his hand to his chin. "You know, I think he mentioned something about going out of town for the day for something he could only buy in… Somewhere that's not here. I wasn't really paying attention."

"Well," Becca shrugged. "Like you said. There's no door. You think he'd mind if we just… Looked around a bit?"

Siddeley, finally recovered, stood up straight. "I mean. How messy can a hippie tent be?"

Stacy peeked through the bead curtains. "Holy sh—! Yeah, we're waiting until he gets back. I'm not touching that mess."

"What? It can't be _that_ bad. Lemme s—Oh good lord yeah we're leaving." Siddeley agreed.

Sarge scoffed. "Even I could've told you that was a bad idea."

"Well thanks for warning us." Stacy monotoned at the veteran.

He gave a gravelly laugh then went back inside.

"Wait, Sarge." Finn called. "Do you have any idea when he'll be back?"

"Huh? Uh… No, he didn't say. At least, I don't remember him saying anything."

"I see. Thank you." Finn nodded, and Sarge went back inside for a second time.

"Welp. Now what do we do?" Stacy frowned, shoving her hands into her hoodie pocket.

"Well, Andy _did_ leave you a whole box. I don't suppose you looked through the rest." Finn reminded her.

"Yeah, there wasn't much in there besides a bunch of old Twinkies and a few Japanese weapons." Siddeley shrugged.

"And I don't really have a use for a bunch of shuriken and kunai. So, I just left them."

"Wait, I just saw a bunch of ninja stars and knives." Sid frowned.

"That's… That's what they are, Sid. Shuriken are ninja stars."

"Really?" Sid asked. "How do you even remember something like that?"

"Because it's common knowle—" Finn started to say, but Stacy cut him off.

"Because of the pun! Can a ninja hit his mark with a ninja star? Sure-he-can." Stacy's face stretched into such a wide grin Becca was almost concerned.

Finn was quiet for a moment before he snickered a bit. "I've never heard that. That's actually pretty good."

"Okay! Bad puns aside…" Becca tried changing the subject.

"Um, excuse you, that was a _great_ pun?" Stacy crossed her arms.

"What's our next plan of attack? Coming to Fillmore's was a detour, anyway. What now?" Becca continued.

"Well." Finn began. "We haven't filled Holley and Mater in on what's going on, yet."

"Oh, that's right." Sid frowned. "And I should call Cammie."

"Yeah." Becca agreed, nodding at Sid.

"That way we can check on the kids, too." Stacy brought up. "They've been over at the Shiftwell's this whole time anyway, right?"

"Wait, they have?" Siddeley turned to Becca. "Brooke, too?"

"I really hope you're kidding, so I'm just going to ignore you." Becca replied.

"…to Mater and Holley's we go, then." Sid turned and started to walk away.

* * *

 **Yes! We finally have a name for Stalker Sid that doesn't sound super dumb! SIGMA SIDDELEY HEUHEUHEU**

" **Why DO you know so much about the Greek alphabet, Stacy?"  
It's a long story. Let's just say I really like Rooster Teeth.  
Speaking of Rooster Teeth, I can't write about Cars Sarge anymore without thinking of RvB Sarge. It's a real problem.  
Seriously though, it is a MIRACLE I haven't put any RWBY references in my fanfics (yet). There's literally a Soul Eater reference in this chapter. I'm awful about not putting references in my work. Ugh.**

 **I feel like this chapter didn't really go anywhere, but that COULD just be because I've been working on it for the past few months, so… I dunno. Oops.**

 **(Fillmore definitely smokes SOMETHING. I mean. Dude. Every third blink? How do you even notice that. He's on SOMETHING.)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Woooo I am so bad at updating things consistently I'm so sorry :D**

 **I'm gonna be honest I have no idea where this story's going. Let's find out together, shall we?**

"So he's… He's definitely back, then? You know for sure, now?" Cammie worriedly asked over the phone, shooting a nervous glance at her roommate on the other end of the room as she spoke. Luckily, the other girl was too busy doing calculus homework on her bed to pay attention to Cammie's side of the conversation.

" _Yes. Finn and Stacy even saw him for a moment. We figure we have a little less than a week until…_ " Sid hesitated, looking over at Becca, almost hoping for a suggestion. " _Until bad things start happening_."

"Why, what's in less than a week?" Cammie asked, gazing over at the calendar on her wall.

Her blood ran cold. "Oh, The thirteenth." She weakly confirmed.

" _Yeah_." Sid frowned.

"Why _now?_ " she sighed. "It's been… It's been at _least_ ten years, right?"

" _Just about, yeah._ " Siddeley agreed solemnly.

"Sounds like a pretty crazy birthday party you're planning over there," Cammie's roommate, Carmella, spoke up from across the room, startling Cammie.

"Haha, yeah," She agreed with a faux smile. "Um, I'm gonna step out to get some air."

"Yeah, that's fine." Carmella agreed, not looking up from her math. "The quiet'll be nice."

"Alright." Cammie forced another smile, then left her dorm room. She didn't really know where she was going, she just wanted somewhere quiet to talk to Sid.

She walked for about a minute until she was convinced the hallway was deserted. Glancing a few doors down, she spotted a sock on the doorknob a few doors away, and tried her best to ignore noises coming from down there as she put her phone back to her ear.

"Sorry, Sid. I just… Didn't want my roommate to hear."

" _It's alright, Cam. This… Is a lot to take in._ "

Cammie hesitated for a solid thirty seconds before speaking again. "I want to fly out there."

" _What?_ " was Sid's immediate response. " _Cammie, you cannot fly out here! You're on the other side of the country, you're busy with school—most importantly, you're safe! He's over here, remember?_ "

"He's _everywhere for me_!" Cammie reminded him in an exasperated whisper. "These dreams have been getting worse, and now he's made contact with you guys?! Do you expect me to just ignore this, Sid?!"

Siddeley was quiet for a moment. " _I don't want you coming out here. I think it would be best for you to stay and focus on school._ "

"Would you be able to?" Cammie snapped. "If you were here, being haunted by him, would you be able to stay put and do your homework like a good little boy if you knew I was in danger across the country?"

Siddeley didn't say anything. He knew the answer, of course, but just because he wouldn't be taking his own lecture to heart didn't mean he wanted to give Cammie the satisfaction of knowing she was right.

He just wanted what was best for her. Surely she was safer in Virginia. _Surely_.

But as much as Siddeley hated to admit it, she made excellent points.

" _Fine. Fine, you_ …" Sid sighed and ran a hand through his hair—which he swore was starting to go gray. " _I don't want you coming right away, though._ " He warned. " _The closer we get to the thirteenth… If something worse happens, I'll call you as soon as I can and you can hop on a plane. But_ not _until then. Got it?_ "

Cammie rolled her eyes. "Yes, _Dad._ " She said before realizing her mistake.

Siddeley froze. " _Just_ …" he finally spoke. " _Just try to focus on school for now, okay? This is already your second time going back._ "

Cammie hated when Sid brought up that this was her second time in college. It wasn't that she dropped out or flunked or anything, she just… Had no interest in what she initially went to school for. After some last minute decision-making not long before she was ready to graduate her first major, she managed to enroll into another school relatively close to home, to study her real passion—aviation.

"I will." Cammie promised, though unhappily.

" _I love you, Cam._ " Sid sighed, sitting down for the first time in a few hours.

"I love you too, Sid. Please don't keep me in the dark." She pleaded.

" _I won't. I promise._ " Sid reassured, then hung up.

Cammie sighed as she stared at her phone's home screen. She glanced at the time. Curfew wasn't for a few hours yet, so she had some time to wander around with her thoughts. After a moment of contemplating, she decided to take the twenty minute drive to the seashore.

She had made a habit of driving to the Virginia shoreline when she needed somewhere peaceful to think or study. From the dock she frequented, there was a great view of the ocean, and on a clear day, you could see the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, which connected Virginia to the weird little foot hanging off the almost island that was half Maryland and half Delaware, but still technically fit into Virginia's borders, despite being separated by a small stretch of ocean.

That bridge kind of terrified Cammie, and she made a mental note upon her first time seeing it to never drive across it unless it was absolutely necessary. Which, she supposed, was a bit strange since she didn't have a problem flying over open ocean, and when she thought about it, she couldn't really decide which was more trustworthy: a bridge or a plane.

Then she remembered the whole reason this had popped into her head in the first place was probably because she was an exhausted college student that was mostly caffeine and ramen at this point, and decided not to think about it too much about it, realizing she probably wouldn't have had the sorry excuse for a philosophical dilemma had she been running on a full eight hours of sleep.

No matter how hard Cammie tried, the ocean waves underneath the rapidly approaching night sky chasing after the sunset behind her wouldn't clear her mind of her troubling thoughts.

She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket, and she pulled it out and glanced down at the screen. It was a text from Siddeley.

"Calling him Sigma Sid now, huh…?" She murmured to herself. "I guess it _is_ a better fit…"

After more unsuccessful attempts at trying to better organize her thoughts, she stood and went to find her car to return to campus.

"Oh, _shit,_ " she breathed upon seeing her car clock. It was less than half an hour until curfew. "Am I gonna have enough time to get back to my room?" she murmured as she changed gears and sped away.

After finding a parking spot and rushing towards the dorm buildings, Cammie decided it would probably be best to make her way back to her room stealthily, as to not run into anyone on the way back and make herself late. Why did I spend so much time at the dock…? She mentally groaned.

Almost there! She thought to herself. Just another corner and a flight of stairs and I'm home fr—

"Cammie?"

Cammie froze and slowly turned her head to see her boyfriend.

"Miles!" she exclaimed, surprised. "I—uh—you—I've gotta—I'm running—I've gotta get back to my dorm. Soon. Now. Kinda now."

"Cam, calm down." Miles calmly stepped towards her and put his hands on her shoulders. "What's wrong?"

"Wrong?" Cammie echoed, forcing a grin. "Wrong? Nothing's wrong! I'm just late to get back to my dorm before curfew is all, so I'm super flustered about—"

"No, it's something else. I can tell."

Cammie's stomach sank. There was no way she could bring herself to explain the whole Stalker Sidde—I mean, Sigma Siddeley situation to him. If by some insane circumstance he believed her, he'd most likely leave her for fear for his well-being, get hurt somehow, or accuse her of being completely crazy and leave. Either way, she's sans a boyfriend.

"I…" was all she managed to croak out. Her frame visibly slouched as she accepted defeat. "I… Can't tell you…" she whispered.

"Cammie, you can tell me anything." He gently urged.

"I can't!"

Miles looked taken aback, and Cammie looked around startled, realizing she was a bit too loud. "I can't…" she repeated, quieter.

"Why not?" Miles asked in a hushed voice. "Do you… Do you not trust me?" He cocked his head to the side like a hurt puppy.

"It's not that." Cammie shook her head. "It's… A family thing. Problem. Uh." She was running out of excuses fast. "It's…"

Cammie didn't know what else to say. Realizing how trapped she was until Sid called her with an update and how incredibly tired she was, she couldn't help it when tears started overflowing and spilling down her face.

"Cammie?" Miles asked, startled. "Hey, what's—? Cammie!"

Miles pulled Cammie into a hug as she tried not to sob. "I can't do _anything,_ Miles." She whimpered. "I'm so damn powerless, I—I—I can't… I can't do anything to he—he—help… I ca—n't do… Anything…"

"Shh…" Miles whispered, stroking her hair. "That's not true. It's okay. It's okay…"

The couple stood there, Miles holding Cammie close and stroking her hair while Cammie cried into his chest, curfew be damned.

 **This entire chapter wasn't originally going to be focused on Cammie, but oh well. It sorta got away from me but I'm glad how it ended up turning out.**

 **Yo, over on my deviantart, (Stacky422) I tried to create a fake anime screenshot of the scene from chapter 4 where Finn and Stacy spot Stalker Sid chillin during the storm. Yeah you remember the one. If not you should go check it out I'm pretty proud of it**


	8. Chapter 8

**Holy WHAT I haven't updated this story in lITERALLY over a year. I got a pm from someone recently asking about my fics and I basically had a big flashback and went "holy shit, what even happened to my writing talent. Maybe I should dust it off."**

 **The funny thing is, on October 13** **th** **a few months ago I thought very briefly, "October 13** **th** **… why does that sound familiar…? Hm… Oh well, it's probably the birthday of an anime character."**

 **How far I've fallen.**

 **Anyway, not only am I currently a college student now, but I have a million other projects I'm constantly thinking about making me very busy. :) (I'm dying inside) I've been drawing wAY more than writing, I'm making animations on my youtube now, song covers, I have WEBCOMICS in the works? I'm helping a friend of mine with character designs for his projects? All very exciting things but like I said, I'm v busy. And don't have much time to devote to fanfictions anymore. HOWEVER, I really would like to get back to them. So I'm gonna try.**

 **So this is me trying to get back to them.**

 **Especially since I had COMPLETELY FORGOTTEN THAT I NEVER FINISHED THIS ONE I AM SO SORRY**

By the next day, any sign of rain had completely disappeared from Radiator Springs. Stacy was a bit upset, but Finn urged that they had more pressing concerns at the moment.

"You worry too much." Stacy waved her husband away as they entered Flo's. "Okay kids, why don't you pick out where you want to sit?"

"I want a booth!" Clementine announced, and Leland quickly agreed. The two rushed off, River close after them.

"Should we tell them that someday we won't all be able to fit in a booth, or…?" Stacy cracked a smile.

"How are you so calm?" Finn whispered.

"Oh, don't worry, I am _constantly_ internally screaming. I am _so_ stressed, that I've transcended the plane of anxiety and I'm now in a state of pessimistic calm."

Stacy paused to give her husband time to react. All he did was give her a skeptical look. "Besides, I've always combated fear with humor. You should know that by now, shouldn't you? _Master spy_?" Stacy poked Finn in the cheek, and it was his turn to swat her away. "Fine, fine…"

With a quiet sigh and a quick scan of the restaurant, Finn looked back at his wife.

"We should be… I don't know, coming up with some sort of _plan_ …" he quietly urged.

"We tried. We fired up the detector, and…" Stacy sighed. "No… No, you're right. We're kinda fu—screwed at the moment." She corrected, remembering they were now in earshot of the children. "We'll talk with Sid and Holley later, okay? Maybe if we all brainstorm together…"

"It's a start." Finn unenthusiastically agreed as the two joined their children in the booth they picked out.

It wasn't long before the waiter came over to take their orders. "Morning. What are you all having?" Sebastian, Flo and Ramone's nephew, had recently moved to Radiator Springs to work for Flo at the café, hoping to bide his time until he found a job of his own. Of course, he was reminded of how much he loved the town and requested to simply stay in Carburetor County and continue working for Flo, to which she agreed.

After they took their orders and waited for their breakfast, they sat in uncomfortable silence. The children were laughing and all looking at their menus—unaware of what was going on.

The diner door swung open and Stacy and Finn looked over to see who had entered. To their relief, it was Siddeley, with Holley and Mater in tow. (no pun intended. okay maybe a little.)

"Hey," Sid greeted solemnly, once Finn and Stacy had walked over to them.

"Hiya," Stacy quietly replied. "Did you, uh…" She looked over at Holley and Mater, who both nodded.

"I kinda figured," Stacy sighed as she tilted her head back and closed her eyes for a moment. "You're a lot paler than usual."

Holley cracked a hesitant smile. "Saying something, considering where we live, now."

"Please, you're still just as pale as any other Londoner I know." Stacy grinned. "Except maybe Sid."

Finn quickly scanned the restaurant once again—a habit—before his eyes landed back on Mater and Holley, who didn't look as cheerful as Stacy did. Finn could tell they were trying to put on a brave face for the children, but Finn knew the news about their least favorite stalker rattled them more than they'd like to admit.

"Finn?" Holley gently asked.

"Hm?" He looked over, catching himself trying to survey the room a third time. "Oh. Yes. What did you say?"

"Nothing, I just..." she trailed off, deciding to gently take Mater's hand in hers. "You seem a bit on edge."

Holley opened her mouth once more, realizing, yes, of course he was. "Sorry—I—I didn't... We all are. Sorry."

"No, don't apologize. It's..." Sid cut in.

Stacy and Mater exchanged a glance. And then another.

"Okay! This conversation is... Going nowhere." Stacy decided with a whimsical air to her voice—one of the best ways she knew to relieve tension.

"Hey..."

The five turned at the new voice. Flo stood before them with a coffee pot in one hand, and the other on her tilted hip, looking concerned.

"Are y'all doin' all right?" She quietly asked.

"Why do you ask?" Holley squeaked.

Flo raised an eyebrow. "Well, for one—" she gestured with the coffee pot to the four of them, and then the entrance to the cafe. "Y'all are loiterin' around near the door."

The five turned their heads to look at the door, then back to Flo.

"Right. Sorry." Finn bobbed his head in an apologetic nod.

"Are you all right, though? Really?" she pressed, with kind eyes.

The group all exchanged glances. They were keeping this information from their children—hell, they were keeping it from Holley and Mater before earlier today. They knew they _should_ tell the townspeople, there was no doubt in their minds. But the question was _when_.

"Mum? Dad?" Clementine had walked over, breaking the tension by interrupting their uncomfortable staring contest.

"Clem," Stacy greeted.

"Are you guys coming over to eat, or what?" she asked with inquisitive eyes.

It took Stacy a moment to respond. "Oh. Oh, y-yes. Yes, we—" she turned to look at Flo. "Sorry. We're fine," and then looked back at her daughter. "Sorry, honeybun. Come on, I know you're hungry." she smiled, taking her daughter's hand and walking back over to the booth that the kids had picked out.

With once last worried glance, Flo slowly turned her heel and walked back into the kitchen.

Finn, Sid, Holley, and Mater lingered a moment longer. Finn took another step closer to them before saying in a low voice, "This is no place to talk, anyway."

They all said nothing for a moment. Finn glanced away, then turned his head back to their general direction.

"After all the kids are in bed, we'll talk—do you know anywhere we won't be compromised?"

"I don't like the idea of leaving the kids alone." Holley cut in.

"I don't either," Finn admitted. "Especially with what happened last night. But think for a moment. It's only the ninth. It's doubtful Sigma will do anything substantial until then."

"Doubtful?" Mater echoed, tone a bit harsh.

"Mater is right," Holley sounded upset. "You want to leave them alone on a _gamble_?"

"Now is not the time to talk about this." Finn, also taking on a harsh tone, insisted once again. He paused, looking back at Stacy, occupied with their children.

"Alright." He finally decided. "Alright. Here's the plan."

He looked at Siddeley. "Sid. You've been awfully quiet. Tell me what you think of this."

"Of your plan? Let's hear it." Sid hesitantly agreed.

"Flo." Finn whispered.

"Flo? Your master plan is Flo?" Sid whispered back, sounding exasperated.

"Yes. Listen—" he looked over towards the kitchen. "She already suspects something is going on. We need to tell the townspeople what's going on eventually—they were as big of a part of the events that transpired over ten years ago as we were. We can tell her tonight. And the children can stay with her."

The group mulled this over.

"It's not ideal." Holley frowned.

"But we trust Flo." Mater finished.

"Daddy!" Leland called from across the restaurant, urging Finn to hurry up.

"You'll tell her?" Finn asked. "You'll ask and explain what's going on?"

"Yes. Leave it to us." Holley reassured.

"Good. Good. We'll see you later. At Flo's house." Finn confirmed.

"Yes. Then we'll go from there." Holley nodded.

"Alright. Yes... Good." Finn said, more to himself, as he hurried away towards his family. The remaining three exchanged glances, and made their way over to the counter to wait for Flo to reappear.

 **I swear, the only reason I got this done was because of this cute little site I found called Fighter's Block that forces you to write words to defeat a lil monster attacking this lil RPG boi. Thank god for tumblr amirite**

 **If anyone's been around long enough to have had the displeasure of reading Raindrops, you might remember Sebastian. Except his name used to be Jack. And also he was Flo and Ramone's son. But 19 year old me thought back to what 13 year old me was thinking when I first wrote him in, and 19-yr-old me said, "Hey, past me, that makes very little sense. I'm gonna change that up a little, cool?"**

 **To which 13-yr-old me replied, "No!"**

 **So 19-yr-old me said, "Come on…"**

" **No." said 13-yr-old me, quieter this time.**

 **So 19-yr-old me said, "** _ **How about I do?**_ **?"**

 **(This is a very bad parody of History of Japan just ignore this)**


End file.
